NATO members and countries in the European Union are considering sending soldiers to Ukraine, according to the prime minister of Slovakia.
Robert Fico - who has previously opposed sending military supplies to Ukraine - was speaking ahead of a meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday.
“I will limit myself to say that these theses (in preparation for the Paris meeting) imply a number of NATO and EU member states are considering that they will send their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis,” Fico told a televised briefing following a meeting of Slovakia’s security council.
“I cannot say for what purpose and what they should be doing there,” he said, adding that Slovakia, a member of the EU and NATO, would not be sending soldiers to Ukraine.
Although members of NATO have supplied billions of pounds worth of aid to Kyiv, leaders have stated they are avoiding a direct conflict with Russia.
When asked about the comments, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said: “The Czech Republic certainly is not preparing to send any soldiers to Ukraine, nobody has to worry about that.”
NATO had no immediate comment on Fico’s remarks.